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Managed Antivirus: 3 Effective Small Business Solutions

With small businesses constantly under attack from hackers and malware, an efficient and effective managed antivirus strategy is more important than ever.

Consider that, in 2017 alone, we’ve seen three major ransomware attacks that have crippled hundreds of thousands of computers and networks all over the world. And in all three cases, patches to seal the vulnerabilities penetrated by the ransomware triggering malware were released months before the attacks. In other words, with an effective managed antivirus strategy in place, none of the organizations, enterprises and small businesses impacted by the attacks would have been hurt at all.

When an IT manager starts to recognize that cybersecurity has become too important to handle as business as usual, it typically means most (or all) of the following:

1. Self-managed antivirus security using cloud antivirus

Patch management that automatically checks whether or not your applications are up to date and points you to updates you may have missed

Highly-rated threat recognition based on machine learning

Remote access

User-friendly interface

Dashboard to help you identify and recognize problems as they evolve, enabling you to respond in seconds

True endpoint protection

2. MSSP using cloud antivirus

If managing a cloud-based antivirus solution is going to be too great a strain on your internal operation, the next option is to outsource the security aspect of your IT department to a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP), while maintaining control of all other parts of your tech environment.

A Managed Antivirus Service Provider will offer a bundle of services that could include:

24/7 security monitoring and management

Managed firewall

Intrusion detection

VPN

Vulnerability scanning and anti-malware services

3. MSP using cloud antivirus

Depending on the complexity of your operation, it may be time to bring in a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to take over most or all of your IT services, including the network, applications and cybersecurity.

Importance of the cloud

You’ve surely noticed that all three solutions above call for use of cloud antivirus protection. Cloud antivirus offers several distinct advantages over on-premise protection.

Zero infrastructure costs. You no longer have hardware you need to purchase and maintain or antimalware software that you need to update. It’s all done automatically in the cloud. The savings can be considerable, and security can be operational in minutes.